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My  08-15M 


THE  PEOTEST  OF  LABOK. 


While  labor  throughout  the  country  is  organizing  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  shorter  hours  of  work  for  the  same 
wages,  or  higher  wages  for  the  same  work,  and  various 
other  advantages,  the  United  States  Congress  has  pending  a 
tariff  bill  which,  if  passed,  would  turn  over  to  foreign  coun- 
tries, especially  to  Belgium,  Germany,  and  England,  a large 
portion  of  several  of  the  most  steady  of  our  home  indus- 
tries. Should  Congress  pass  this  law,  it  would  undoubtedly 
do  much  toward  settling  the  present  difficulties  between 
capital  and  labor,  by  importing  the  products  of  foreign  labor 
and  leaving  American  labor  in  idleness. 

In  the  two  weeks  of  hearings  accorded  the  great  indus- 
tries of  the  country  by  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  one 
day  was  devoted  exclusively  to  the  testimony  of  the  labor 
interests.  I was  present  in  the  committee  room  during  all 
these  hearings,  and  must  confess  that  none  of  them  im- 
pressed me  so  much  as  the  workingman  pleading  with  the 
Congressional  Committee  not  to  reduce  his  wages  and  lower 
his  condition  to  that  of  the  European  workman.  Said  Mr. 
William  Weihe,  President  of  the  Amalgamated  Association 
of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers,  a puddler,  of  Pittsburgh,  ‘‘We 
believe  that  if  this  measure  becomes  a law,  this  forced  idle- 
ness on  the  part  of  workmen  will  increase,  and  for  that 
reason  we  come  and  ask  you  to  make  no  change  in  the 
tariff.  The  workingmen  of  this  country  are  receiving  a bare 
livelihood;  but,  if  their  wages  are  to  be  still  further  reduced, 


4 


TEE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


they  will  not  get  a livelihood.”  This  witness  told  the  coni^ 
mittee  that  he  knew  of  mills  where  the  men  are  idle  on  ac- 
count of  the  agitation  of  the  tariff.  In  these  cases  their 
families  were  suffering. 


EIGHTY  THOUSAND  WORKMEN  OPPOSED  TO  THE  BILL. 

The  protest  from  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron 
and  Steel  Workers  was  read  by  the  secretary  of  that  asso- 
ciation, Mr.  William  Martin,  of  Pittsburgh.  Among  other 
things  this  document,  signed  as  it  was  by  the  representa- 
tives of  this  association  of  workmen,  numbering  eighty 
thousand,  says:  ‘‘We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  any  revis- 
ion of  the  present  tariff,  except  such  revision  as  tends  to 
higher  rates  than  are  now  obtained,  and  from  ad  valorem  to 
specific  duties.”  It  furthermore  said:  “We  believe  in 
encouraging  in  every  possible  way,  and  at  all  times,  and  in 
all  places,  American  industries,  and  the  purchase  and  use  of 
American  products,  in  preference  to  imported  goods.  ” One 
expression  in  this  document  struck  me  as  particularly  apt, 
namely,  “Nipping  a little  off  tariff  duties  year  after  year 
will  ultimately  end  in  free-trade.”  And  further,  “Trades 
and  labor  organizations  in  this  country  have  refrained  from 
political  action  as  organizations,  but  if  the  tendency  to  frit- 
ter away  the  bulwark  which  has  so  far  enabled  the  members 
to  obtain  good  wages  is  continually  agitated,  they  will,  per- 
force, be  compelled  to  take  political  aqtion,  with  a view  to 
protecting  themselves  and  their  trade.”  This  shows  that 
there  exists  among  the  trades  and  labor  organizations  of 
this  country  a wholesome  sentiment  on  the  tariff  question, 
and  with  the  present  dangerous  measure  pending  in  Con- 
gress, it  seems  that  the  moment  has  arrived  for  these  organ- 
izations to  assert  themselves  in  order  to  protect  themselves. 
Mr.  Andrew  Stewart,  another  puddler,  of  Allegheny  City, 
addressed  the  committee,  and  pointed  out  the  effects  of  the 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


6 


revenue  tariff  of  1846,  which,  he  said,  in  two  years  closed  up 
almost  every  iron  mill  in  the  United  States.  ‘‘For  two 
yeai*s,”  he  said,  “following  the  reduction  of  duties  by  that 
tariff  bill,  the  grass  grew  on  the  floors  of  ’the  mills  in  Pitts- 
burgh. Like  results  come  from  like  causes.  Now,  we,  who 
have  been  in  the  business,  know  from  experience  that  every 
reduction  in  the  tariff  is  a reduction  in  our  wages,  and  not 
only  a reduction  in  our  wages,  but  in  the  wages  of  the  mass 
of  workmen  in  the  United  States,  Therefore  we  say  that  it 
is  for  our  benefit  that  the  tariff  shall  not  be  reduced  at  pres- 
ent, but  rather  that  the  duties  shall  be  put  up  if  possible.” 


THE  BILL  A DIRECT  BLOW  AT  WAGES. 

Another  workman,  Mr.  Thomas  Williams  of  Youngstown, 
Ohio,  said  to  the  committee,  “We  believe  that  the  Ameri- 
can workingman  will  be  deeply  injured  if  you  pass  this 
measure ; and  I believe  that  you  will  also  destroy,  to  a larg^ 
extent,  the  power  of  the  manufacturers  of  the  country  to 
pay  us  the  wages  we  have  been  getting.  As  American  citi- 
zens we  cannot  be  compelled  to  exist  upon  what  the  work- 
ing people  of  England,  France,  or  other  European  countries 
exist  on.  We  have  a right  to  expect  something  different. 
The  people  of  this  country  have  made  the  country  just  what 
it  is;  and  in  a very  great  measure  the  workingmen  have 
made  it  what  it  is,  although  some  of  you  may  take  excep- 
tion to  that  statement,  for  I understand  that  some  gentle- 
men of  this  committee  say  that  we  must  come  to  the  level  of 
labor  in  Europe.  That  idea  is  something  which  we  must 
protest  against.”  Another  witness,  Mr.  Roger  Evans  of 
Ohio,  said  among  other  things,  “Any  party  in  this  country 
who  takes  up  with  this  foreign  aristocratic  sentiment,  of 
undermining,  of  degrading,  and  of  debasing  the  American 
workman,  v/ill  be  left,  and  will  get  completely  snowed  un- 
der the  ballots  of  the  American  voters.”  Several  of  the  free- 


6 


TEE  PllOTEST  OF  LABOR, 


trade  members  of  the  committee  attempted  by  every  possi- 
ble means  to  irritate  the  men  who  had  come  before  them  to 
represent  the  honest  toil  of  the  country,  by  intimating  that 
the  capitalists,  not  the  workingmen,  reaped  the  benefit  of 
the  protective  tariff.  In  reply  to  one  of  these  arguments, 
for  they  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  questions,  in  which  a 
member  of  Congress  pictured  to  Mr.  Eoger  Evans  the  grasp- 
ing character  of  the  manufacturer,  and  contrasted  his 
Avealth  and  affluence  with  the  meager  pay  of  the  working- 
man, Mr.  Evans  said,  with  creditable  frankness,  ‘‘We  ac- 
knowledge that  there  are  selfish  men  everywhere,  and  we 
know  that  we  are  unduly  selfish  ourselves  sometimes.  La- 
bor organizations  are  sometimes  unduly  selfish ; but  I ask 
you,  for  pity’s  sake,  to  let  us  fight  this  battle  out  among 
ourselves,''''  The  refrain  of  these  men  throughout  the  Ways 
and  Means  Committee  hearing  was,  let  us  have  the  protect- 
ive system  throughout,  in  the  interest  of  the  entire  Ameri- 
can people — American  manufactures  for  American  people. 


A MAN  WHO  BETTERED  HIS  CONDITION. 

One  of  the  most  effective  speakers  who  appeared  before 
the  committee  was  Mr.  Thomas  P.  Jones,  of  Chicago,  iron 
and  steel  worker.  He  said  that  he  voiced  the  sentiment  of 
three  thousand  workmen,  young  and  old,  employed  in  the 
same  factory  in  which  he  was  employed,  and  that  they  were 
totally  opposed  to  any  further  tinkering  with  the  tariff.  He 
claimed  that  the  representatives  in  Congress  had  no  right  to 
make  the  situation  of  labor  worse  than  it  is.  Among  other 
things,  Mr.  Jones  said,  “ If  you  keep  on  lopping  off  here  and 
there,  taking  protection  first  off  this  thing  and  then  off  that 
thing,  the  ultimate  end  amied  at  is  certainly  free-trade  and 
nothing  else.  I had  the  misfortune  to  be  born  in  a free- 
trade  country,  and  I was  raised  there  in  a sort  of  way ; cer- 
tainly to  my  loss.  I never  received  any  education.  I came 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


7 


to  this  country  to  better  my  condition,  and  I am  happy  to 
say  that  I have  bettered  my  condition.  I have  made  more 
wages  than  I ever  made  in  the  old  country.  We,  as  work- 
ingmen, claim  that  we  are  the  power  that  sent  you  here ; 
and  claiming  that,  we  do  not  look  up  to  you  as  we  were 
taught  to  look  up  to  our  lords  and  dukes  across  the  water ; 
but  we  look  up  to  you  as  honorable  upright  American  citi- 
zens, qualified  and  capable  to  come  here  and  legislate  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  country.  It’ has  been  shown  here  to-day 
that  this  tinkering  with  the  tariff  is  not  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  country ; is  not  for  the  best  interests  of  the  wealth- 
producers — of  the  men  who  have  built  up  this  country. 
Then,  gentlemen,  I take  it  that  it  is  your  duty  to  throw  this 
bill  to  the  dogs.”  Again  Mr.  Jones  said,  ‘‘  Where  I live,  in 
Chicago,  you  would  be  surprised  to  see  the  feeling  that  ex- 
fists  among  the  working  classes.  And  why?  Because  some 
of  the  people  there  worked  in  this  country  in  free-trade 
times.  I have  a brother-in-law,  who,  in  free-trade  times, 
travelled  to  his  work  six  miles  in  the  morning,  getting  there 
at  sunrise,  worked  all  day,  and  walked  home  at  sundown, 
and  all  for  a paltry  fifty  cents  a day.  I also  have  worked 
for  fifty  cents  a day,  but  not  in  this  country,  thank  God.  I 
have  worked  for  twenty-five  cents  a day,  but  I do  not  want 
to.  do  it  again.  I have  seen  in  the  city  of  Glasgow,  in  Scot- 
land, men  working  for  twelve  cents  a day  and  a bowl  of  soup. 
That  does  not  become  an  American  citizen.  We  cannot 
have  such  a state  of  things  here,  and  we  will*not  have  it.” 

‘‘a  bit  of  bread  for  supper.” 

Mr.  Jones  might  have  added  here  that  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, in  this  same  Glasgow,  and  around  it  there  are  thou- 
sands of  people  in  just  this  same  condition,  glad  to  work  for 
twelve  cents  a day  and  a bowl  of  soup.  Here  is  what  the 
Glasgow  Mail  says  of  the  condition  of  the  laboring  classes 
of  the  Clyde : 


8 


TEE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


“How  do  the  unemployed  keep  themselves  alive  during 
months  of  enforced  idleness?  is  a question  that  is  in  the 
mouth  of  every  one  acquainted  with  the  terrible  and  long- 
continued  depression  that  has  been  resting  on  the  industries 
on  our  river  for  the  last  two  or  three  years.  One  yard  has 
been  totally  closed  for  months  past;  a large  majority  of 
those  who  have  anything  to  do  have  about  one-third  or  one- 
fourth  the  number  of  workmen  capable  of  being  employed 
when  business  is  brisk.  Only  two  yards— Messrs.  John 
Elder  & Co.  and  Messrs.  Napier  & Sons,  Govan — have  any- 
thing like  a fair  complement  of  work  on  hand,  and,  as  a 
consequence  of  this  state  of  matters,  some  thousands  of  men 
have  been  walking  about  our  streets  now  for  months  on  ^nd 
unable  to  get  a job  of  any  kind.  Pale-faced  many  of  them, 
anxious-browed  all  of  them,  and  seeing  little  or  nothing  to 
lead  them  to  hope  for  a bettering  of  things,  or  to  help  them 
to  tide  over  the  quickly  advancing  winter,  which  always 
brings  additional  suffering  and  privations  to  the  homes  of 
the  poor.  ‘How  do  they  live?’  Well,  some  people  would 
say,  if  they  understood  all,  that  the  idle  workmen  don’t  live 
at  all ; literally  they  feed  upon  the  husks  which  the  swine  do 
eat.  Their  children  have  to  beg,  many  of  them,  for  their 
food,  and  any  residenter  in  the  neighborhood  will  tell  you 
about  the  little  hungry-looking  creatures  that  tap  at  the 
door  after  dark — ^because  begging  is  an  infringement  of  the 
police  act — and  solicit  ‘a  bit  of  bread  for  supper,’  and  it 
brings  a lump  to  one’s  throat  to  see  how  the  teeth  of  one  of 
these  hungry  little  ones  close  over  a piece  of  warm  buttered 
tpast  from  the  tea-table.” 


AMERICAN  WORKMEN  OPPOSED  TO  “LEGISLATIVE  NAGGING.” 

Speaking  of  this  continual  worrying  at  the  tariff,  another 
representative  of  labor  said,  “ Here,  in  less  than  three  years, 
this  same  question  is  brought  up  again  and  is  agitated,  and 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


9 


you  are  trying  to  crop  a little  of  the  duties  off  here  and  a 
little  off  there,  with  the  ultimate  view  of  breaking  the  sys- 
tem of  protection  up  altogether.  I cannot  form  any  other 
idea  about  it.  And  I claim  that  the  gentlemen  who  work 
in  that  line,  with  the  sole  idea  of  wiping  out  the  protected 
industries  in  this  country,  have  no  feeling  whatever  for 
their  fellow-men,  not  one  particle.”  One  of  the  members 
of  the  Committee  attempted  to  prove  that  the  working- 
classes  in  England  were  as  well  off  as  they  were  in  the 
United  States.  But  one  of  the  workmen’s  delegation  com- 
pletely annihilated  him  by  asking  if  he  had  ever  been  there ; 
the  member  was  obliged  to  admit  that  he  had  not,  where- 
upon the  witness,  who  happened  to  be  an  Englishman,  said, 
“If  you  want  to  be  convinced  of  the  happiness  of  English 
working-people,  you  ought  to  go  there.  You  ought  to  visit 
the  nail  factories  in  England,  and  see  a mother  with  her 
child  upon  her  back  hammering  away  making  a nail,  work- 
ing for  the  pitiful  sum  of  three-and-sixpence  a week.  Gen- 
tlemen, you  should  not  talk  about  the  happiness  and  pros- 
perity of  the  laboring  classes  of  Great  Britain  unless  you 
know  something  about  it.  I know  something  about  it. 
You  may  go  there  and  see.” 


GRAND  MASTER  POWDERLY’S  VIEWS. 

In  addition  to  the  above  expressions  of  opinion  from  the 
laboring  interests,  we  find  that  the  great  representative 
of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  Mr.  T.  V.  Powderly,  is  opposed 
to  all  legislation  that  proposes  lower  rates  of  duties  on 
American  products.  I quote  from  a speech  made  by  Mr. 
Powderly  February  15,  1883,  at  the  Cooper  Union: 

“ Yet  I am  a high  tariff  man.  I am  a protectionist  from 
the  top  of  my  head  to  the  bottom  of  my  boot,  and  I am  not 
ashamed  of  it.  You  may  ask  me  why  I am?  There  are  two 
reasons : The  one  is  because  I was  born  in  Pennsylvania ; 


10 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


the  other  is  because  I am  an  American,  and  never  in  my 
life  have  I advocated,  and  so  help  me  God,  never  in  my 
life  will  I advocate,  anything  that  tends  to  degrade  American 
labor.” 

There  is  nothing  hesitating  about  Mr.  Powderly,  and  he 
has  so  recently  shown  himself  to  be  made  of  such  excellent 
material  for  a great  leader  of  the  labor  interests,  that  his 
words  must  go  a long  way  with  his  fellow-workmen. 

Again  Mr.  Powderly  said : 

‘‘Protect  our  commodities,  our  articles:  we  have  the  raw 
material  to  manufacture  nearly  everything  we  want.  In 
the  name  of  God  and  of  the  American  people,  protect  it 
from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other.  Let  protection  be  the 
watchword.”  Mr.  Powderly  holds  these  views  to-day,  and 
before  the  Congressional  committee  a few  days  ago  said  that 
one  of  the  objects  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  to  help  man- 
ufacturers to  pay  the  highest  wages  for  their  labor.  How 
can  they  do  this  if  the  barriers  between  foreign  labor  and 
American  labor  are  to  be  constantly  lowered.. 


WHAT  CONGRESS  PROPOSES  TO  DO. 

With  these  distinct  and  unmistakable  words  from  the 
representatives  of  the  labor  interests  of  the  country  ringing 
in  their  ears,  what  does  Congress  propose  to  do  ? 

It  proposes  to  pass  a bill  which  will  seriously  lower  duties 
on  many  important  articles,  and  place  upon  the  free-list 
many  important  commodities  produced  in  the  United  States. 
This  bill  among  other  things  proposes  to  reduce  the  duty  on 
woollen  goods  from  thirty-five  cents  per  pound  and  thirty- 
five  per  cent  ad  valorem  to  thirty-five  per  cent  ad  valorem 
and  to  reduce  the  duty  on  medium-priced,  worsteds,  which 
now  range  from  twelve  to  eighteen  cents  per  pound,  accord- 
ing to  their  value,  and  thirty -five  per  cent  ad  valorem  to 
thirty-five  per  cent  ad  valorem  only. 

The  bill  now  pending  proposes  also  to  reduce  the  duty  on 
clothing  made  of  worsted  and  of  woollen  goods  from  forty 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


11 


cents  per  pound  and  thirty-five  per  cent  ad  valorem^  which 
is  the  present  duty,  to  thirty -five  per  cent  ad  valorem  only. 
Clothing  of  all  descriptions  will,  therefore,  if  this  bill  is 
passed  by  Congress,  have  from  five  cents  per  pound  to 
twenty-three  cents  a pound  less  protection  compared  with 
the  goods  out  of  which  they  are  made  than  they  have  under 
the  present  tariff,  and  cloaks,  dolmans,  etc.,  etc.,  will  have 
from  ten  cents  to  twenty -eight  cents  per  pound  and  five 
per  cent  ad  valorem  less  protection  compared  with  the  price 
of  goods  out  of  which  they  are  made  than  they  have  under 
the  present  tariff.  A protection  of  thirty-five  per  cent  only 
is  not  sufficient  to  compensate  the  American  manufacturer 
of  woollen  and  worsted  goods  for  the  great  difference  in 
price  of  labor  between  this  country  and  Europe,  and,  conse- 
quently, by  far  the  greater  proportion  of  woollen  goods 
used  for  making  up  clothing  and  cloaks  will  be  made  in 
Europe.  As  there  is  no  difference  whatsoever  between  the 
duty  on  cloaks  and  clothing  and  the  goods  out  of  which  they 
are  made,  and  as  the  wages  paid  tailors,  cutters,  trimmers, 
etc.,  etc.,  are  so  much  higher  here  than  they  are  in  Ger- 
many, clothing  and  cloaks  made  in  this  country  will  not  be 
able  to  compete  with  those  made  in  Europe. 

Although  the  new  tariff  bill  proposes  to  reduce  so  much 
the  duty  on  clothing,  cloaks,  etc.,  it  is  not  proposed  to  make 
any  change  in  the  duty  of  many  of  the  trimmings,  such  as 
silk,  braid,  velvets,  silk  linings,  sewing  silk,  etc.,  which  are 
required  to  make  up  clothing,  cloaks,  etc. 

The  duty  on  many  of  these  articles  is  really  higher  than 
the  proposed  duty  on  clothing,  cloaks,  etc.,  will  be  if  the  bill 
now  under  consideration  in  Congress  becomes  a law. 

A DIRECT  BLOW  AT  LABOR. 

The  effect  of  this  reduction  upon  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  tailors,  tailoresses,  seamstresses,  cloak-makers,  cutters, 
trimmers  and  others  engaged  in  making  clothing  and 
woollen  garments  of  all  kinds  it  will  be  impossible  to  fore- 
tell. The  census  returns  of  1880  give  the  number  of  per- 


12 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


sons  engaged  in  these  and  similar  industries  at  420,000.  It 
is  estimated  by  competent  authorities  that  not  less  than  half 
a million  men  and  women  are  employed  in  making  garments 
of  various  kinds  to  clothe  this  population  of  57,000,000.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  hard-working  people  will  be  de- 
prived of  their  occupation  should  this  bill  become  a law. 

In  six  months  after  its  passage  new  factories  for  making 
ready-made  clothing  of  all  kinds  will  be  started  in  Berlin,  in 
Bremen,  in  Elberfeld,  in  Leipsic,  in  Aachen  and  in  Franfort- 
on-the-Main. 

And  why? 

Because,  according  to  the  official  reports  sent  by  the  United 
States  Consuls  from  those  places  to  the  State  Department  at 
Washington,  the  wages  for  tailors  are  forty-seven  cents,  fifty 
cents,  forty-eight  cents,  fifty-six  cents,  sixty  cents  and  fifty 
cents,  respectively,  per  day  of  twelve  hours’  work. 

Because,  according  to  those  same  official  reports,  the  Ger- 
man workman  and  workwoman  live  on  the  coarsest  black 
bread,  wear  the  cheapest  garments  and  wooden  shoes,  and 
live  in  a condition  generally  that  no  American  workman  or 
workwoman  can  or  ought  to  live  in. 

It  may  be  urged  that  the  patterns  of  clothing  differ 
greatly  in  this  country,  and  that  would  be  an  obstacle.  I 
am  assured  by  those  who  know  that  this  is  easily  obviated. 
The  patterns  would  be  made  in  this  country  and  sent  across 
the  Atlantic,  and  there  the  cloth  A\^ould  be  cut.  It  would 
therefore  leave  the  American  cutter  without  occupation  or 
reduce  his  wages  to  the  level  of  the  European  cutter,  whose 
wages  rarely  reach  more  than  a dollar  a day,  and  are  some- 
times less.  The  average  weekly  wages  of  tailors  in  Austria 
nre  for  foreman  six  dollars  per  week;  piece  workers,  four 
dollars  per  week ; day  workers  (male)  per  week,  four  dollars 
and  forty  cents;  day  workers  (female),  three  dollars  and 
sixty  cents. 

It  may  well  be  asked  how  do  workmen  live  on  such  wages. 
The  answer  is  simply  because  they  do  not  live  as  well  as  the 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


13 


laboring  classes  do  in  America.  Every  member  of  the 
family  works.  Women  perform  the  hardest  manual  work. 
Unless  the  working  men  and  women  of  our  cities  who  will 
be  thus  affected  by  the  Tariff  bill  now  pending  in  Congress 
at  once  file  their  protests  with  the  members  of  Congress 
from  their  district,  as  I have  shown  the  representatives  of 
some  of  the  important  industries  have  already  done,  with 
the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  the  passage  of  the  bill  will 
be  secured  and  the  labor  of  American  tailors,  cloak-makers, 
cutters,  trimmers,  etc.,  will  be  open  to  European  competition 
at  the  rates  given  above. 

Few  workingmen  realize  the  ruin  and  desolation  a bill  of 
this  kind  will  bring  to  their  homes.  Three  quarters  of  the 
woollen  goods  manufactured  in  this  country  are  sold  to  the 
wholesale  cloak  and  clothing  houses  which  abound  in  our 
large  cities..  The  bulk  of  this  business  will  be  turned  over  to 
European  houses;  and,  to  save  themselves,  American  firms 
will  be  compelled  to  start  branch  houses  on  the  other  side, 
where  they  can  take  advantage  of  the  labor  of  tailors  paid 
at  fifty  cents  per  day.  The  pending  danger  is  a real  one.  It 
means  to  the  American  worker  of  our  large  cities  less  wages, 
less  to  eat,  less  to  wear,  less  to  clothe'and  educate  his  family, 
and  perhaps  idleness  and  starvation.  The  iron  workers 
comprehended  this,  and  they  compelled  Congress  to  throw 
their  industry  out  of  the  list  for  destruction;  the  coal- 
miners went  before  the  committee  with  their  protests,  and 
coal  was  returned  to  the  dutiable  list ; the  miners  of  iron  ore 
plead  their  cause,  and  they  won  the  day.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  Amalgamated  Iron  and  Steel  Association.  The  com- 
mittee representing  that  Association  made  an  earnest  appeal, 
and  it  was  decided  to  spare  the  metal  schedule.  A com- 
mittee of  working  potters  appeared  before  the  Congressional 
Committee,  and  that  industry  is  to  be  let  alone.  It  now  re- 
mains for  the  cloak-makers,  the  tailors,  the  cutters  and  the 
trimmers  in  their  great  industry  to  make  that  appeal.  It  is 
now  too  late  to  go  before  the  committee,  but  if  those  inter- 


14 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


ested  will  at  once  send  protests  to  their  members  of  Congress 
and  if  the  workmen’s  clubs  and  Knights  of  Labor  assembhes 
in  all  the  large  cities  will  at  once  pass  resolutions  conform- 
ing with  the  views  of  their  colleagues  as  given  above,  and 
with  those  expressed  by  Grand  Master  Powderly,  this 
vicious  measure  to  degrade  American  labor  may  yet  be 
defeated. 

WHAT  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  HAVE  ACCOMPLISHED. 

Last  week  the  laboring  interests  of  Philadelphia  and  New 
Jersey  sent  delegations  to  Washington  in  the  interests  of 
cotton  spinners  and  woollen  spinners  and  weavers.  One  of 
these  protests  had  the  names  of  four  thousand  working- 
men. The  protests  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  against  the 
free-ship  bill  now  pending  in  Congress  have  also  been  very 
effectual.  The  voice  of  the  workingman  should  be  heard 
at  Washington  at  once  against  the  tariff  reduction,  and  es- 
pecially against  the  proposition  to  destroy  the  manufacturer 
of  ready-made  clothing  in  the  United  States.  I have  shown 
what  the  wages  are  in  Germany.  It  is  unnecessary  to  tell 
those  engaged  in  the  industry  here  what  they  are  paid.  It 
is  enough  to  say  that  the  American  workman  and  work- 
woman will  starve  if  compelled  to  receive  the  foreign  rate. 
The  result  is  therefore  inevitable.  The  large  concerns  will 
transfer  their  plants  to  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  while 
the  smaller  factories  will  be  pushed  to  the  wall. 

LET  THE  LABOR  INTERESTS  RALLY. 

There  is  but  one  course  to  pursue.  Let  the  laboring  in- 
terests take  this  matter  up.  Let  them  demand  that  no  dis- 
crimination be  made  between  the  different  industries  in 
which  the  people  are  employed.  Let  the  platform  be  pro- 
tection to  all  industries  in  which  American  labor  is  employed, 
whether  agricultural,  mechanical,  mining,  or  manufacturing. 


THE  PROTEST  OF  LABOR. 


15 

To  take  any  other  ground  means  certain  destruction,  for  the 
plan  of  the  enemy  of  American  industry  is  to  divide  our 
forces ; to  divide  the  hitherto  firm  ranks  of  our  own  great 
industries,  and  by  bringing  discord  among  them  conquer 
them  in  detail.  What  share  of  the  profits  labor  shall  have 
and  what  share  shall  accrue  to  capital  is  a family  question. 
For  the  moment  capital  and  labor  have  a common  enemy  to 
fight  in  the  shape  of  the  agents  of  our  foreign  industrial 
rivals,  who  are  pressing  both  vigorously.  Added  to  this,  the 
news  comes  from  Washington  that  President  Cleveland  and 
the  entire  administration  have  come  out  on  the  side  of  the 
free-traders,  and  will  use  all  their  power  to  secure  the  pass- 
age of  the  tariff  bill,  and  crush  the  laboring  interests  of  the 
country  and  destroy  home  industries.  The  plea  for  doing 
this  is  the  old  one — to  cheapen  the  workman’s  clothing.  And 
they  propose  to  do  this  by  robbing  him  of  the  means  to 
buy  by  reducing  his  wages  to  the  European  standard.  Let 
the  voice  of  labor  be  heard  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  in  the 
Senate  chamber,  and  in  the  White  House  itself.  The  danger 
is  imminent.  There  is  no  time  to  lose,  or  the  damage  will  be 
doQe.  The  post-oflSces  and  Federal  patronage  of  the  govern- 
ment have  been  thrown  into  the  scale  against  labor,  and 
Democrats  refusing  to  vote  for  the  bill  are  to  be  driven 
out  of  the  party.  Let  the  workingmen  of  America  rally 
around  the  men  who  have  their  cause  at  heart,  regardless 
of  political  faith. 


COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


New  York  Sun. 

. They  convey  with  terseness  and  perspicuity  much  valuable  informa- 
tion concerning  the  rise  and  present  status  of  many  British  industries.” 

Newark  Advertiser. 

“ Mr.  Porter’s  letters  are  replete  with  facts  and  figures  that  positively  prove 
his  conclusions.  . . . His  reputation  as  a reliable  statistician  is  too  well  known  to 
require  any  extended  notice.” 

Hartford  Evening  Post. 

“ A well-written  book,  that  ought  to  be  read  by  everybody,  especially  by 
manufacturers  and  workingmen.’’ 

Utica  Herald. 

“ No  person  can  claim  to  speak  intelligently  on  industrial  matters  in  compari- 
son with  Great  Britain  or  on  industrial  legislation,  without  careful  examination 
of  the  instructive  truths  embodied  in  ‘ Bread  Winners  Abroad.’  ” 

The  National  Tribune. 

“ Since  Horace  Greeley  we  have  had  no  writer  with  the  gift  of  popularizing 
economic  questions  in  the  clear  and  forcible  style  that  characterizes  Mr.  Por- 
ter’s work.”  ^ 

From  the  Des  Moines  Register. 

“It  is  a pity  that  everybody  in  America  and  especially  the  workingmen  can- 
not read  these  letters.” 

Frorh  the  Boston  Traveller. 

“Mr.  Porter  is  a most  instructive  witness  on  the  points  of  wages,  labor,  and 
the  social  environments  of  the  working  people.” 

“ Facts  such  as  he  is  furnishing  in  his  industrial  letters  are  worth  volumes  of 
arguments  based  on  theories  and  hypotheses.” 

Wheeling  Intelligencer. 

“ Mr.  Porter’s  letters  on  industrial  topics  have  added  greatly  to  his  well-de- 
served fame  as  a writer  on  questions  of  political  economy.  The  English  letters 
are  well  worth  the  study  of  every  American  bread-winner.” 

From  the  Times-Democrat  {New  Orleans). 

“ Mr.  Robert  P.  Porter’s  letters,  comparing  the  industrial  condition  of  free 
trade  in  [Great  Britain  with  that  of  this  country,  have  been  savagely  taken  up 
by  the  free-trade  press.  . . . The  English  census  fully  sustains  what  Mr.  Porter 
says.” 

Syracuse  Journal. 

“ . . . This  book  should  be  made  the  means  of  an  educating  process  which  will 
be  found  profitable  in  the  relations  of  labor  and  capital,  and  in  the  political  fu- 
ture of  the  country.  Mr.  Porter  is  a reliable  statistician,  and  a close  investiga- 
tor and  observer.” 

From  the  Cleveland  Leader. 

“ The  European  letters  of  Mr.  Robert  P.  Porter  have  done  more  towards  giv- 
ing the  American  people  a true  knowledge  of  political  economy  than  whole  vol- 
umes of  trashy  stuff  written  by  conceited  theorizers.” 

The  Irish  World. 

” ‘ Bread  Winners  Abroad  ’ is  from  the  pen  of  Robert  P.  Porter,  widely  and 
favorably  known  as  an  earnest  advocate  of  protection  to  American  labor.” 


